Hero of the Slums
by madashes2ashes
Summary: A Christmas Special


Notes:

I do not own K. Hitman Reborn. All rights to the characters and world goes to the author Amano Akira. This is just a simple fanfic I've been writing for fun.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

* * *

The snow outside made the air smell crisp and pleasant. The house had been decked out in holly and garlands, bringing holiday cheer to every corner of the house. Lambo and I-pin were outside decorating the yard with numerous snowmen while Bianchi watched in boredom.

Tsuna dodged the mistletoe that Haru had placed over every doorway and headed out to do some shopping. There was only a few days left until Christmas and he'd gotten everyone's presents but one. He didn't know what to get Kyoko.

He'd been saving for months just for this holiday. He had a near fortune put back from his work at Takeshi Sushi, plus the other side jobs he'd been doing on the weekends in secret. Silly stuff like a few hours work sorting books at the library, finding a lost puppy for a little girl, or helping unload shipments for the department store. He'd saved back every penny he could so that he could get tons of presents for his Family.

Even after buying a stack of gifts for everyone, he still had a large chunk of his savings left. He hadn't realized he saved so much. It was easily enough to buy out several small toy stores, he thought. Surely he could find Kyoko something wonderful with it. Maybe some expensive jewelry and a box of imported truffles, he mused.

He smiled as he was passing a toy store. He stopped and looked into the window where a little train was circling a Christmas tree. There were mechanical toys clapping and whizzing around, seeming to reflect the holiday cheer outside.

A reflection in the window caught his eye. Peeking out from around the corner across the street, a small child was looking at the toy store with a sad look in her eyes. As he turned to look, the child was pulled away by an older boy.

Curious about the look in the kid's eyes, at a time of year when everyone was normally happy and cheerful, he followed them. He'd already lost sight of them, but their footprints were clear in the snow of the alley.

After walking for a few minutes, Tsuna realized he was entering the slums. Every city had it's slums and unfortunately Namimori was no different. The buildings were worn down instead of shining brightly. The streets were littered with debris instead of being swept clean. Even the snow seemed depressed, muddy and brown as it was.

He was suddenly very happy he'd worn his favorite hooded sweater instead of the bright new one that his mother had bought him. If he'd worn something new, he would have been an automatic target for thieves and criminals. But, as it was, the clothes he was wearing were faded and worn from use.

As Tsuna lost track of the footprints he was following, he caught sight of the little girl. The older boy was pulling her into a soup kitchen, it seemed. Again curiosity got the better of him and he went up to a window to looked in. There was a line of people getting bowls of steaming soup to warm them and fill their bellies at the same time. Potato soup, he recognized from the smell.

"Are you hungry, boy-o?" Someone asked from behind him. Before he could answer, he was pushed inside and handed a bowl of soup. Unsure of what to do, he followed the man that had given it to him to a seat in the corner of the large room.

There were tables lined wall-to-wall with people scattered around chatting. Every one of them seemed to have bowls. They were all poor, he realized. He could tell there was a range of poverty around him. Some people were sitting with clothing full of holes and dirt. But, there were other people who wore clothes no different from his own.

"You must be from a family of the 'working poor'," the man beside him said looking at Tsuna's clothing. "Times are hard and even those with work sometimes need a helping hand. A warm roof over your head comes before a full belly in winter." The man picked up a boiled potato from his soup with his chopsticks and popped it in his mouth. After swallowing, he continued, "It's not that strange to see a growing boy like yourself helping to make ends meet for his family and still not get enough for dinner in return. Eat," the man ordered.

Unsure of what to do, he ate. While potato soup wasn't the most expensive of things to make, he could tell with one bite that someone had put care into making this. It was seasoned well and the potato seemed to melt in his mouth. Surprised, he looked up as the man beside him finished drinking the liquid part of his soup and set his bowl down. "Now don't you go be giving me a look like that. The people that run this kitchen do their best with the donations they get. People around here might be poor, but they have their pride. Maybe a bit too much pride," he amended.

At Tsuna's questioning look, he pointed to the poor tree set up in the corner. It had been lovingly decorated with paper garlands and hand-made yarn ornaments, but seemed to be missing it's cheer. Looking down, Tsuna realized why. There were no presents under the tree. Not a single one. "Everyone puts necessities first," the man explained. "Around here, a person is lucky to find the time to hand-make something, let alone waste a cent on buying a gift."

Tsuna looked down at his empty bowl. He suddenly felt incredibly guilty over the stacks and stacks of presents he'd bought for his family. Before he could think of something to say, the guy was already babbling on. "Christmas comes once a year, but people with tons of money take it for granted. They buy each other gifts that end up on a shelf, unused, while the people down here are lucky to get a new winter coat. Donations don't come in as much around this time, you see. Everyone's so focused on spending their money on their friends and family that they don't think about the people that they don't see."

The man shrugged, "Not that I can blame them. Don't get me wrong, if I had the money, I'd fill my home until you couldn't see the floor for my family. But for a lot of the people that come in here, I'd say the hardest times are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The kitchen only gets one turkey, you see, unless someone donates more. And even then there are hundreds of people that pass through here each day."

"W-Why are you telling me all this?" Tsuna finally asked.

The man seemed surprised at himself. "Sorry, boy-o, I tend to have trouble stopping when I start talking about something. Don't mind me." He patted Tsuna's hands which were folded on the table and picked up both of their empty bowls. "I'll take these to get washed. If you're still hungry, don't be too shy to go get some more. It might not be some fancy feast, but it'll warm you up and fill you right." Without another word, the man walked off, leaving Tsuna seated alone in the corner.

Tsuna, for his part, didn't know what to think. This was his first time in this part of town, let alone being in a soup kitchen. He looked up and saw the little girl he'd followed in here. She was folding a piece of paper into an origami snowflake. When she finished, she walked over the tree and tied it onto a branch with a small string. It was her way of thanking the kitchen for the soup, he realized. With a bounce in her step, the little girl took her bowl and followed her brother. After handing them off to be washed, they left.

A feeling in Tsuna hardened as the weight of the billfold in his sweater pocket seemed to get heavier. He knew what he had to do. Getting up, he ducked his head and left the building. Quickly getting the address of the building from the mailbox by the door, he made his way back to the shopping district.

* * *

Tsuna rubbed his sleepy eyes as he was woke from a small nudge. Looking up, he saw the store clerk of the small department store that he'd went to. "You fell asleep again," the kindly old man said. Tsuna yawned, noticing that the day before Christmas Eve had dawned without him realizing it.

He was currently sitting in front of a table, small bits of ribbon stuck to his face from where he'd fallen asleep wrapping presents. The clerk, when Tsuna had explained what he wanted to do, had allowed him to use his back room to wrap the pile of things he'd bought. Although, he was sure that the clerk was happy to let him use it, considering Tsuna had cleared out over half of his spare stock of toys and winter clothes that hadn't been sold yet.

Tsuna started to reach for another gift when he saw there wasn't any left. More than half the room was covered in brightly colored packages, each labeled for the type of person it was for. For example, the last one on the table was labeled "Little girl" and the one on the floor next to his chair was marked "grandpa".

He yawned again. Looking at the clerk, he said, "There's still some things I have to do." He glanced at the packages, suddenly realizing he'd miss the celebration with his family if he tried to deliver all these.

The clerk seemed to understand without him saying anything. "I'll get some of the boys to take these over for you."

Grateful, Tsuna took his leave. Going down the road, Tsuna entered the butcher's store where he knew his mother ordered their Christmas ham and turkey. This particular shop was known for cooking it and delivering it as well. The man was a bit surprised when Tsuna ordered half the man's unsold stock. He was even more surprised when he was willing to pay the extra to have it cooked and delivered, as well.

The butcher stopped him. "You seem to be planning a feast for hundreds, young man." Tsuna nodded and explained how he was wanting to give a feast to the people that went to the Soup Kitchen. "But turkey and ham isn't enough if you want to do it right. I've got some friends from the bakery and several other food stores if you are willing to trust me." Tsuna nodded. He'd never planned a feast before. His mother had always taken care of that.

"Alright," he agreed, handing over the last of his thick wallet of money he'd held back. "I'll trust you." With a smile, he left the store and headed home. Surely this would be a wonderful Christmas for everyone in Namimori, he thought to himself.

* * *

On his way home, he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to get something for Kyoko. He thought about the stacks of gifts at home, wondering if maybe he should split them up and give some of them to her. No, he decided. He'd taken the time to pick those out individually for everyone. It wouldn't be right to give her something that wasn't meant for her. Reaching into his pocket, he found one stray bill in the folds of his pocket. Just enough to get her something, if he spent it carefully.

For the next several hours, he went store after store but couldn't find anything that he wanted to get her. The only things he'd found had been too far out of his budget. Turning into the last open store on the street, he found himself in an antique store.

He almost backed out, sure that he wouldn't be able to find anything, when the light reflecting off of something behind a glass case caught his eye. Walking up to it, it proved to be a small necklace hanging from a display. The charm on it was a little hourglass, no larger than his pinky. Inside it, small, detailed snowflakes glistened as they fell. He instantly knew he had to get it.

Looking at the price tag, he nearly cried when he realized he was only a few yen short. A saleswoman walked up to him, having seen his enthusiasm when looking at the necklace. "Do you want this?" she asked.

He nodded and showed her the bill in his hand. "But I don't have enough," he said sadly.

"A gift for a girl?" she asked.

Again he nodded. "She's wonderful. Every time I look at her, it's like everything around me stops," he blushed, thinking about what he'd just said. Apparently it was the right thing, though, because the woman took his money and wrapped up the necklace without saying anything. Giving her a look of gratitude and joy, Tsuna ran home, eager to wrap Kyoko's gift.

* * *

The next day, Tsuna enjoyed an extra-large dinner with his family and helped arrange the gifts under the tree. He'd truly went all out this Christmas, he thought. Not only the huge assortment he'd gotten for his Family, but he'd been able to spread the joy to the people at the soup kitchen, as well.

He smiled, happy at what he'd secretly done.

* * *

The next morning was Christmas. Lambo woke him excitedly, wanting to open his gifts. With a laugh, they went down to join the rest of the family.

Around mid-afternoon, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Haru, and Kyoko dropped by for the party. His mother had went a bit overboard on this year's feast, overjoyed by the amount of people they had to spend it with this year.

As everyone sat around the tree, enjoying their presents, singing carols and drinking eggnog, Tsuna got a happy feeling in his gut every time he looked at Kyoko. She'd liked the necklace so much that she had immediately put it on. He smiled, looking at it where it hung on her neck. An hourglass is only fitting for the girl that can stop time, he thought.

"Tsu-kun," his mother called from the kitchen. "It seems we're out of eggnog. Do you think you could go get some more for me? The corner store said they'd be open until sunset." With a groan, he got up and threw on his coat.

Outside it was snowing again and he was still full of Christmas cheer every time he thought about Kyoko's smile when she'd seen her gift. Humming a carol to himself, he walked to the store.

He wondered what the reaction of the people at the soup kitchen had been. "Oh well," he thought, happy simply with the knowledge that he'd done something good for them.

After he waved farewell to the clerk at the corner store and was almost home, two burly men grabbed him from behind. He dropped the eggnog in fear. Before he could see who'd grabbed him, a sack was thrown over his head and he found himself tied up and bodily lifted into the air and carried off.

"Help!" He tried to yell, but the cloth of the sack was too thick. His voice came out muffled and low. He kicked, trying to free himself, but it was no use.

Somewhere nearby, he heard Gokudera's yell. "Someone's running off with the 10th!" He could hear a large group pursuing his kidnappers in the distance. He kicked harder. Suddenly, everything went black as something hit his cloth-covered head.

The next thing he knew, he was being held down in a chair as he heard someone say loudly, "We got him. There were some crazy people chasing us, but he's here."

"Are you sure he's okay?" Another person asked. "I think he hit his head when you went around that corner. He sure did pipe down after that."

"He's seems okay to me," the other man said as Tsuna struggled with the ropes around his body. Before Tsuna could do anything more, the sack was lifted off his head and he saw the face of his kidnappers. It was the department store clerk and the butcher.

"W-wha?" he asked as Gokudera and the others came rushing through the door.

"Release the 10th!" His loyal friend yelled.

"Nope," the butcher said. "Too many people here want to thank the boy first."

That's when he and his family looked around and noticed where they were. They were in the Soup Kitchen, which was covered in garlands and trimmings. Looking around at all the tables, he saw the great feast he'd bought laid out. Even he was surprised at the amount of food there. Apparently the butcher had made every yen count.

Every table was filled with people standing and clutching gifts he remembered wrapping. Every single one of them were looking at him. He turned red. "Um...eh..."

Before he could do anything, the little girl he remembered from before walked up with a small origami snowflake hanging from a string. As his family watched, the girl walked up to Tsuna and, ignoring the ropes he was tied with, hung it from his neck with a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," she said, clutching a small doll.

Then, before he could respond, another person, then another, walked up. Each draped a snowflake from around his neck and gave him a hug or kiss as Tsuna turned redder by the second. When the last person had finished, Tsuna sat covered in white. Not even a shred of his clothing could be seen under the mass of snowflakes.

Reaching through them, the butcher released his ropes and helped him up. Raising a glass for a toast, he yelled, "Here's to our own little Santa Claus!"

"Kampai!" The crowd cheered as Tsuna's family rushed forward, wanting him to explain what was going on.

Quietly sitting on one of the windowsills, Reborn smiled to himself. A good boss was a hero to the slums, after all.


End file.
